Team Eleven
by One Thousand Rains
Summary: "For that reason, the Hokage has assigned Naruto-kun to a Special Squad of his own design and choosing," Iruka held up the paper he had pulled out earlier. "Uzumaki Naruto, your team-mates are Konan and Tobirama. Your Captain will be Yamato-san, and you are Team Eleven." [Strong!Naruto]
1. Prologue

**Konohagakure no Sato**  
 **The Village Hidden in the Leaves**

The brilliant Sun shone upon Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the heart of a vast, living and breathing forest, on this fine March morning. Birds chirped out their melodies and enchanted theirby all who bothered to lend an ear, as the villagers, civilian and shinobi alike, went about on their usual daily routine.

One particular place however, radiated with joy and expectation. In Konohagakure no Sato's main civilian Ninja Academy, this year's graduates had all gathered to be assigned their teams. Umino Iruka's classroom in particular was pregnant with expecting graduates, and it was, noticeably, also the noisiest part of the Ninja Academy, because-

"GET AWAY FROM SASUKE-KUN INO-PIG!"

... Yes, precisely for that reason.

"YOU GET AWAY, FOREHEAD! LIKE ANYONE WOULD EVER ASSIGN SASUKE-KUN ON THE SAME TEAM AS YOU!"

And yet, as the blonde, one Yamanaka Ino, shouted that back at her eternal rival - a pinkette named Haruno Sakura - with the flames of passion burning in her eyes (there were small fireballs, quite literally visible in the eyes of both rookie kunoichi who were currently on the verge of a catfight), a dark-haired boy with a pineapple shaped head merely raised a bored eyebrow at Ino's statement.

 _"What a drag,"_ Nara Shikamara thought. Ino and Sakura's bickering had woken him from his nap, and needless to say it was a troublesome affair indeed. Yet, appearances could deceive, because the Nara boy while having a lazy disposition, had a mind that far surpassed his peers, _"How can Ino be so stupid to not realise that there's no way they are ever going to break up the Ino-Shika-Cho, so she'll be stuck with me and Chouji? ... And Sasuke will most likely be paired with Sakura because he's the Rookie of the Year and she's the Top Kunoichi... how troublesome."_

Meanwhile, in one corner of the classroom dressed in blue ninja garb, the dark-haired Boy Who Lived himself sat brooding, completely ignoring the two bickering fan-girls near him as his head rested on his intertwined fingers, all the darkness of the Universe itself seeming to rain down on him as if he were the personification of Amegakure.

Then the doors slid open, and all eyes turned towards a whiskered light blond-haired, cerulean blue-eyed short boy dressed in an old, worn-out orange jumpsuit who had a bright grin plastered on his face.

"Is that...? Naruto, get out of here!" the words of one Inuzuka Kiba were followed by a tiny bark from his puppy familiar, Akamaru, "this is for _graduates_. The next class doesn't begin til next week!"

Uzumaki Naruto clenched his teeth at the boy, the whisker marks on his cheeks growing a tad bit prominent due to his contracted facial muscles and giving him a look truly resembling an enraged fox. "SHUT UP, DOG BREATH! SEE THIS- _TTEBAYO_?!" the blonde pointed at his forehead, showing a glossy, silver forehead protector ensheathed in a blue headband.

A bluenette named Hinata 'eeped' at that as her cheeks turned red and a smile found its way on her face. Ino and Sakura stopped bickering and turned to look at Naruto, as if to verify that this wasn't just another prank of his. They all saw their Senseis fail Naruto, so how could he be here as if he had passed?

Even Sasuke raised an eyebrow at spared the orange-clad eyesore a side glance.

"WHAT?! No way, you failed the Genin Exam! Where did you get that!?" Kiba shouted.

"Settle down, Kiba-kun," the voice of Umino Iruka, their Class Instructor, cut through the noisy room, as it finally settled down and all attention turned to him upon him entering the classroom. "Naruto-kun passed via a... Special Exam, so yes, he is now a Genin like the rest of you," he explained, briefly, smiling at his adopted little brother who grinned back in response, "Now, take your seats all of you, and we'll begin the Team Assignments."

The blond-haired Uzumaki - an unnatural occurrence, for all Uzumaki, however rare, were known to be red-haired - climbed up the stairs before he sat in the same bench as - but on the seat furthest from - Uchiha Sasuke, who merely 'hn'd in acknowledgement.

"Hey, teme!" Naruto grinned at the dark-haired boy in greeting.

"Looks like they gave you a sympathy pass on your third attempt, dobe," Sasuke replied stoically, as he closed his eyes, conveying thereby his intention to ignore Naruto for the entirety of the rest of his existence.

The girls - in particular Sakura and Ino - who were sitting behind the two boys were glaring daggers and flames at the oblivious blonde. They could not understand what was worse: the fact that the Dead-Last was the only person in the class that their precious _Sasuke-kuuun_ even acknowledged, no matter how poorly or the fact that said Dead-Last had referred to their precious _Sasuke-kuuun_ as a 'bastard'.

Meanwhile, Naruto, ticked off at Sasuke's response, was about to shout back at him when suddenly, their Sensei's 'Big Head no Jutsu' kicked into full effect and the amplified shout of, "SETTLE DOWN, ALL OF YOU, AT ONCE!" caused practically every student to get glued to their seat, stop whatever they were doing and pay attention to Iruka.

"Now," the Instructor began. "These are the Team Assignments I have received, straight from the Hokage Tower. Your individual skills, your performance in the Academy and the influence of the clans to which some of you may belong were some of the factors that were considered in these assignments, and these are final on the order of the Hokage, which means you can't change your teammates. Konohagakure Genin Squads are three-man squads, and your Jounin-sensei will pick up on your further instruction and training. Now, as for Team One..."

Thus, Iruka began listing off each name on the list, until he got to...

"Team Seven," he began. "Will be Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura-"

"YATTAAAA! CHA!"

"NOOOO!"

"-and Sai, who is a senior Genin being reassigned to your Squad. You three will be captained by your sensei, Hatake Kakashi."

Iruka paused, sparing a glance at his classroom. Most of them were nonchalant, Sasuke did not even look like he was paying attention - though Iruka new full well how alert the boy truly was. The real sad sight was the face of Sakura, grinning ear to ear while staring hearts at Sasuke-kuuun, and the crying Ino and... Naruto seemed to have his face in his hands as well.

Iruka smiled and shook his head at the blonde boy. His little brother-figure had always had a crush on the pinkette. Too bad.

"Team Eight will be Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba. Your sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai."

From the corner of his eye, Iruka saw the white-eyed bluenette visibly wilting at not being put with her crush.

"Team Nine is still in circulation from last year," Iruka continued, regardless. "Team Ten will be Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chouji. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

A loud _thud_ signalled Ino's head dropping on her desk in dismay, as the Nara boy simply sighed while his best friend Chouji continued to loudly chew on his bag of chips. Iruka shook his head with a smile and fell silent for a few moments after that, while he pulled out a fresh page from the stack of pages in his hands.

But those few moments of waiting were too much for Konoha's Number One, Hyperactive Knucklehead, who thought they had forgotten to assignment. All his classmates' names had already been announced, after all.

"Oye! Wait, Iruka-sensei! What about me?!" Naruto shouted, cerulean orbs wide as saucers at the thought that Old Man Hokage had forgot to assign him on a team.

Kiba snickered. "Told ya, ya didn't pass!"

Naruto's head snapped back in Kiba's direction, tick marks on his head. "Shut up! Iruka-sensei just told you I passed!"

"Learn patience, Naruto," Iruka scolded. "You passed late, by then the teams had already been assigned. In any case, you've been placed on a Special Squad."

At this, Uchiha Sasuke's eyes finally opened to spare the blonde, and then their Sensei, a glance.

"Special Squad?" Naruto, confused, voiced the thoughts on everyone's mind.

"Probably a Squad of Dead-Lasts," Sakura snickered, and Naruto showed visible signs of anguish at such a comment from his crush.

At that, Iruka finally snapped. He knew he needed to maintain a professional attitude when in class - his relationship with Naruto was personal, and he could not play favourites. But... technically, they were no longer his students, and he had grown more than tired of the way they treated the boy he cared for so much. So, with a deviant smile, Iruka decided to give Naruto something to show off about. He did deserve it, especially after that stunt with Mizuki.

"Actually, Sakura," Iruka began, as all heads turned to him. "Naruto was promoted to Genin Rank because he managed to master an A-Rank forbidden jutsu in just under a few hours, and then proceeded to defeat a traitor to the village with it who, without Naruto's intervention, would've gotten away with the Hokage's Forbidden Scroll. Naruto protected hundreds of village secrets from leaving our walls, singlehandedly."

Most of the class gasped in shock that. Uchiha Sasuke and Nara Shikamaru, however, merely raised an eyebrow each. Naruto blinked, then blushed and grinned sheepishly, whereas Ino began to chatter incessantly in hushed tones with her personal group of gossip girls.

"For that reason, the Hokage has assigned Naruto-kun to a Special Squad of his own design and choosing," Iruka held up the paper he had pulled out earlier. "Uzumaki Naruto, your team-mates are Konan and Tobirama, new Genin like you but who are not students of this civilian Ninja Academy, having been trained under the Hokage's Special Program. Your Captain will be Yamato-san, and you are Team Eleven."

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato  
Ninja Academy**

Half an hour after Iruka-sensei had left them with his advice and blessing, Jounin Sensei after Jounin Sensei came turn by turn to pick up their newly assigned students. In the end, only three students remained in the classroom. The pinkette was still shocked, evident by how her mouth hung open every time she stared at Naruto, who sat there smugly enjoying the free attention he was getting, whereas the Boy Who Lived merely glared at the boy with all the arrogance and jealousy he could muster.

"How?" Sasuke spoke, finally.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at him.

"How did you master an _A-Rank_? You couldn't even do a proper _Bunshin_ ," Sasuke noted, darkly.

"Hey!" Naruto glared at him, slamming his hand on his desk as he and Sasuke literally got in each other's faces, blue eyes shooting sparks at black. "I'll show you 'Bunshin'!" Naruto's hands found themselves forming a T-seal, Sasuke's own hands coming together in the hand signs for a Fire ninjutsu merely out of reflex at seeing Naruto's hands move, as Sakura stared on in horror.

"Kage Bu-!"

"Katon: Gou-!"

"Wait-!"

All three were interrupted in their simultaneous speech by a poof of smoke, which disappeared to reveal a tall man with short brown hair and black, almond-shaped eyes, dressed in standard Konoha-nin garb, most prominently the pale green Jounin flak jacket.

The ghoulish look on his face immediately stopped everything the three Genin were planning to do, their hands paralysed mid motion and their tongues mid-sentence.

"Now then," the look disappeared, as the man began speaking. "My name is Yamato. I believe I'm here to collect a single one of you, so, if you would please, Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto blinked, before he looked to his left to see Sasuke, then to his right to see Sakura, and then pointed dumbly at himself. "Me?"

"Yes, you. Be quick about it."

Naruto grinned ear to ear, pointing at himself. "Oh, so you must be my _Special_ Jounin-sensei here to pick me up for my _Special_ Genin Team, dattebayo!"

"... My first impression of you is, you're an idiot," said Yamato, as sweat-dropped at the blonde's antics.

Naruto sweat-dropped at that, and Sakura cheered with a shout of 'Cha!'

 _'It must've been a fluke, whatever impressed the Hokage,'_ Sasuke thought, smirking to himself as he calmed down and placed his hands in his pockets before going to seat himself again.

"Quit wasting time, Uzumaki-san," Yamato said to the blonde. "Your colleagues are already waiting at Training Ground 11. I just came here to collect you, so, if you don't mind..." Yamato grasped Naruto's shoulder with his hand, who simply stared at it in wonderment, before his entire world shifted and became high-speed tunnel vision as the Sensei-Student duo disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Yatta!" Sakura cheered suddenly. "Now it's just me and you, Sasuke-kun, cha!"

A dark looked crossed Sasuke's features, as he intertwined his fingers and rested his head on them. _'Every Jounin Sensei has come and gone, so ours should be here any moment now. All I have to do is ignore this pink-haired nuisance til then,'_ thought the dark-haired Uchiha.

Little did he know Hatake Kakashi would not get there for the next four hours.

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato  
Training Ground 11**

A young white-haired boy with red-eyes, who could easily be mistaken for an albino, flashed his katana around as he drilled himself through different swordfighting forms. Adorned in a pair of pin-striped pants and a blue shirt which left his arms exposed, the young boy had facial markings that resembled those of the Nidaime Hokage, the Second Fire Shadow that had taken command of Konohagakure no Sato in history. In fact, to anyone alive today who would've met the Nidaime, he would've looked exactly like a younger version of him.

Next to him sat a young girl in a karate top and skirt bottom, with a pouch she wore at the front of her outfit. She had short, straight blue hair in a bun, lively amber eyes with lavender eye shadow, but her most noticeable feature was the large light blue paper flower clipped onto her bun for adornment. She sat crossed legged on a rock next to the practicing boy, knee-length grey ninja sandals taken off and placed at a side on the ground below next to the rock she was sitting on. She appeared to be practicing origami, a blue paper swan held in her hands which she was adjusting, amber eyes full of concentration.

Both their heads turned, distracted from whatever they were doing as both detected the chakra signatures before the puff of smoke that symbolised the coming of their Sensei and newest team-mate.

Both of them cringed simultaneously upon seeing the bright, eye-damaging orange.

"Greetings, Konan-chan, Tobi-kun," Yamato gave them both a smile, before gesturing with his hand at the blonde beside him, who looked a tad disoriented due to his first ever Shunshin. "I'd like to introduce to you your new team-mate, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto recovered almost immediately at the mention of his name, loudly thrusting his fist forward. "Alright, you must be the _Special_ Team-mates that the Hokage assigned me, dattebayo!"

He was immediately bonked upside the head by Yamato. "Don't say that word 'Special' again, alright?!" the brown-haired man said, with his ghoulish expression and Naruto almost soiled his pants then and there.

"H-h-h-hai!"

The two similarly-aged Genin in front of Naruto both sweat-dropped, before the one known as 'Tobi-kun' spoke up. "Did Sandaime-sama seriously make the third of our trio the village idiot?"

"Yep," Yamato smiled at him deviantly, and 'Tobi-kun' growled.

"Alright, now, settle down, I believe we need proper introductions here. While the rest of us know each other already, Naruto doesn't know us so we need to be polite and induct him into our group," Yamato explained.

Soon enough, the three Genin were sitting in front of Yamato who sat leaning against a log post.

"Alright, first things first, Naruto-kun, I want this introduction to be complete. As team-mates, we need to trust each other completely as trust is essential to teamwork, the lack of which merely spells death on the battlefield. As you said - but I won't use the word you used - this is a Team formed of people who each are... _unique_ , each in our own way. We were therefore put together in one team, and the Hokage expects much of us. Each of us harbours secrets that themselves as S-Rank Classified," at Yamato's pointed look, Naruto immediately sat up straight. He understood immediately what the brown-haired man meant by 'S-Rank Classified'; the tenant that lived in his abdomen.

"So, he is the Kyuubi jinchuriki," 'Tobi-kun' said, interrupting his teacher, as his red-eyes stared at Naruto. Konan's amber eyes ran to blonde at that, widened in shock.

Naruto stared at the white-haired boy. "H-Huh?! How did you-?"

"I'm a Sensor-type," he explained, stoically enough to rival Uchiha Sasuke, but he didn't have Sasuke's dark air about him. "I could pick up that gigantic mass of dark chakra concentrated inside your belly. I don't know much about Jinchurikis, but I do know that the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the village thirteen years ago, when you would've been a newborn baby."

Naruto blinked, before glancing at Konan, and then at his Sensei.

"It's alright, Naruto-kun," Yamato smiled warmly, and his smile, like Iruka-sensei's, melted away the blonde's anxiety. "Like I said, all of us harbour S-Rank Classified secrets. That was yours, and I have express permission from the Hokage to discuss these secrets between us - there are silencing seals placed around the perimeter of this training ground so that no one can spy on us. No one here will judge you for what you hold; we all know the difference between a jailor and a prisoner."

At that, Naruto glanced to his right at 'Tobi-kun' again, who remained stoic, but nodded at the blonde. When he glanced at Konan, the bluenette smiled warmly at the boy before nodding at him, and that made Naruto blush a little, but he grinned his characteristic foxy grin in response.

This Tobi person resembled Sasuke a bit but he wasn't stuck up, and Konan was actually cuter than Sakura and not nearly as mean! Not to mention their Sensei seemed like a really decent guy.

Naruto liked his new team-mates.

"So, Naruto-kun," Yamato said. "Let's hear you introduce yourself, properly, leaving nothing out including any Classified information. I'll go ahead first and then you do. My name is Yamato, I'm a Jounin-ranked shinobi of Konohagakure, and I have served previously in the ANBU and in ROOT, which are both secret forces of the Konoha Shinobi Corps. I like walnuts and architecture, and my hobbies include reading books about architecture. I dislike enclosed spaces, as they make me suffer from motion sickness. I don't have any dreams in particular, just to be an excellent Konoha shinobi and do the Hokage proud.

"As for my abilities and secrets: when I was younger, I was kidnapped by a former Konoha ninja who turned traitor to the Leaf, a vile man named Orochimaru. He experimented on me, and infused me with the cells of the Shodaime Hokage, so I am apparently the only person alive who can use the _Mokuton_ which made the Shodaime Hokage so famous."

Naruto's mouth dropped at that revelation, as he stared at his sensei with stars in his eyes. For a child who aspired to be the Hokage, training under a man who could use the style of the Founding Fire Shadow himself was nothing short of an honour.

"Alright, my name is Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto began, hyped up now. "I like ramen, Iruka-sensei, the old man and Ayame-neechan over at the Ichiraku Ramen, Sakura-chan and Hokage-jiji! I dislike the minutes it takes to make ramen, and Sasuke-teme! And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Somebody important, dattebayo!"

'Tobi-kun' smirked. "Hokage, huh?" was all he said.

"And... as for my abilities, according to Iruka-sensei and the Hokage, I have huge chakra reserves. So I can use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu almost without drawback, I created like hundreds of clones men I beat up Mizuki-teme!"

Both the white-haired boy and the blue-haired girl stared at him in shock at that, whereas Yamato merely nodded.

"And... as you know, the Yondaime sealed the Fox in me the day I was born," at that, Naruto's tone took on a melancholy tone, but he brightened up almost instantly. "Iruka-sensei said that the Yondaime trusted in me, and wanted me to be seen as a hero! So that's another reason I want to become strong, to honour the faith that the Yondaime put in me, dattebayo!"

Naruto struck his fist forwards at that declaration.

Yamato nodded. "That was good, Naruto-kun. Now you go, Tobi-kun."

The silver-haired boy nodded. "My name is Tobirama... I am named so because I am a clone of Senju Tobirama, the Second Hokage."

At that, Naruto's jaw literally dropped to the ground. He couldn't even find words to express himself anymore.

Tobirama continued. "The same man who infused Yamato with the Shodaime's cells, also created me and Konan, alongside hundreds of others, in test tubes," Naruto glanced at Konan at that, who had her eyes closed and face expressionless. "He was a vile man, who sought to create a powerful army of shinobi under his control so, he tried to clone as many powerful shinobi whose DNA he could get his hands on. The clone project failed for multiple reasons, and he abandoned us all, but out of hundreds he did not realise, before abandoning the village, that he had succeeded in exactly two attempts... me and Konan. We were discovered during by the Yondaime months before he perished in the Kyuubi attack, and extracted from the artificial wombs we were in stasis in, alive... he had us placed in an orphanage, but the Sandaime after his death always kept us in surveillance, before assigning us to Yamato, who has trained us since we were both nine years old, helping us discover our abilities."

Tobirama heaved in a sigh, letting Naruto's (slow) mind digest all that for a few seconds, before he continued again. "So there's our secret and our history. I like fresh fish, especially that caught in the clean rivers of Konoha, and I dislike people who discriminate against others for something they are not responsible for. My hobbies are training my Water ninjutsu. And my dream, unlike yours, is not to be Hokage exactly, but to surpass my template, Nidaime-sama, in each and every way, because although I'm created from him, I am not him."

"T-That's... amazing," Naruto said, finally, after a short silence. Tobirama closed his eyes and smiled.

"My turn, right?" Konan spoke up, and all heads turned to her. "Hello Naruto-kun and the rest of you, my name is Konan. Like Tobi-kun said, I too am a clone of a powerful shinobi, though Sandaime-sama did not have much information about my template, except the fact that she belonged to Amegakure no Sato and was once a pupil of Jiraiya of the Sannin, who in-turn was the pupil of Sandaime-sama himself. In any case, like Tobi-kun, I like fish, but flame-broiled fish in particular. I have a passion for origami, and my hobbies are therefore origami and flower pressing," as if to demonstrate, she pulled out her paper swan and showed it to Naruto, who grinned his foxy grin upon seeing it, "and I dislike uncleanliness and disorder. And my dream is to, one day, a see a world without pain or suffering, where we could all understand one another," as she ended, she gave a small smile.

"Amazing," Naruto said again, pointing at the paper swan, "you made that yourself?"

Konan smiled and nodded, an almost unnoticeable but present pink tinge decorating her cheeks at Naruto's compliment.

"Wait a minute," Naruto blinked, cerulean orbs glistening with excitement. "So, I'm on a team captained by someone with the powers of the Shodaime, the clone of the Nidaime, and the grandstudent of the Sandaime Hokages?!"

All present blinked at that observation.

Konan laughed. "It would appear so, Naruto-kun."

"This is AWESOME! And I'm gonna take that Hat from the Old Man so we're Team Hokage, dattebayo!" he jumped onto his feet and struck his fist forward, making a thums up.

"Alright, alright, settle down," Yamato signalled with both hands, and Naruto assumed his cross-legged position on the ground again. "Now, see, we are a 'Unique' Team, and Hokage-sama expects a lot from us. All three of you are technically orphans, so you understand each other's pains, to an extent. Then, due having a similar past as Tobirama and Konan, and havin Senju DNA in me like Tobirama, I can relate to them as well. And with my Wood Release, I can even help you control the Kyuubi's powers, Naruto-kun."

Naruto double took at that. "R-Really?"

Yamato nodded, "all in good time. First of all, however, we need to learn to work together with each other, and coordinate with each other as a team. So, you can all take your leave now, but you are all to come here in Training Ground 11 at 7 o' clock, sharp, tomorrow morning. I intend to have us all familiarise each other with our abilities, and form strategies to work together with one another," Yamato pushed himself off the log post he was leaning on, standing up straight.

"... I guess that is all for today. You are all dismissed, and I have to go make my report to Hokage-sama. Remember, 7 sharp tomorrow. Ja ne," Yamato smiled, before saluting his three Genin and disappearing promptly in a puff of smoke.

The three Genin stood up, and Naruto, with his hands clasped behind his head, saw his two new team-mates beginning to walk away and signal their goodbyes, but he cut them off. "Hey, wait up!"

Konan and Tobirama turned around to look at him curiously.

Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head. Having been rejected his whole life, Naruto felt it awkward asking them, but Yamato-sensei had reassured him that they knew he was not the prisoner, but the jailer. So...

Here goes a lot. "Would you guys, erm... like to eat ramen with me? I don't have a lot of money but... I can manage a treat, I'suppose."

Naruto feared rejection, but Konan's smile melted it away. "Well, I don't have anything else to do. And you're right, that can allow us to bond more and learn about each other's personalities!" she looked at her companion.

Tobirama was silent, but sighed and nodded. He did not exactly like ramen, but he agreed largely because he understood Naruto's emotional state. That, and he knew Konan would drag him by his ear if he denied.

"Sure."

Naruto felt a surge of happiness swell up in his heart, one that rivalled the feeling he had experienced on being acknowledged by Iruka-sensei.

"ALRIGHT, DATTEYBAYO!" his shout echoed throughout the training ground, scaring a few birds away, and capped by a gentle giggle from Konan.

* * *

 **Let's see how well this idea floats with readers.**


	2. Day One

**First of all, thanks to all the good people out there who reviewed this story; reviews have been entirely positive. There were some issues a few reviewers raised, and these I'm discussing here. Just to clarify, Naruto was not being 'bashed' last chapter when Yamato calls him the village idiot. I always understood Naruto as priding himself in being the village pariah, the prankster.**

 **The major issue raised was that of Naruto's development. Yes, I too dislike the way he develops in canon, but one thing I feel is central to Naruto's character is that** **he is a dimwit** **. Characters like Naruto symbolise those people who are not naturally gifted since birth, but through hard work and determination they can surpass those (Sasuke, Neji) who have been so gifted. This is intended to be an eventual Strong!Naruto fic, but** **not** **a YellowFlashSharinganRinneganMokutonUltraGenius!Naruto fic, for those looking for that. He will be far stronger and more versatile than canon overall, through explainable training methods, but it'll still remain within the limits of reason.**

 **The other issue raised in reviews was that of pairings. Romance is** **not** **a central theme in this story. The focus will be on adventure, because I just can't write romance. Still, there will be elements of blossoming feelings between Naruto and Konan, which may lead towards a decent relationship with the progression of the story.**

 **Okay, enough of my ranting, on with the tale.**

 **Edit: fixed a mistake in this chapter pointed out by a reviewer. I forgot that the Sandaime's wife perished in the Kyuubi attack.**

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato  
** **Hokage's Office, Hokage Tower**

The aged shinobi known throughout the Elemental Nations as 'the Professor', flashed through a few hand seals before exhaling out a steady stream of white fire, which ignited a scroll held by its spine in his free hand, and consumed it in its searing heat until nothing remained.

 _'To think,'_ the aged shinobi thought, as he leaned back in his seat, his eyes hidden under the shadow of his symbolic hat. _'After all these years, the only student of mine that I would take pride in would be the one I thought least of. Jiraiya-kun surpassed my expectations long ago, yet he continues to amaze these aged bones. If only Orochimaru...'_ the Professor let that trail of thought go before it even began to take root. It would not do good to lament about his failure as a teacher right now. What mattered the most was the intelligence received from the networks of both Jiraiya and his most reliable double agent who went by the name of Uchiha Itachi.

Intel that did not bear good tidings for the Leaf.

Not only was the mysterious organisation known as Akatsuki appearing to take initiative soon, but political tensions and military anarchy seemed to be brewing fresh soup in the higher polities of Sunagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden within the pit of the Scorching Desert. While it was not fathomable why, and to what end the Kazekage was willing to engage in warfare, the fact to consider was that Jiraiya's intelligence had never let the Sandaime Hokage down.

Not once in the past four decades.

"Hokage-sama," an ANBU with a bird mask appeared out of the shadows. "The Elders, and-"

"I have already sensed their presence," the aged Sandaime pulled out his pipe, placing it in his mouth and blowing out a steady circle of smoke before he meted out his instructions. "Signal Mikoto-chan to let them in." _'Now_ this _should be interesting...'_

Not very long thereafter he found himself in the presence of his once-teammates, and present councillors, Homura and Koharu - and his oldest comrade. The elderly man who appeared frailer than even the Hokage, with black, shaggy hair, a bandaged right eye, and that ancient x-shaped scar on his chin, limped into the Hokage's Office behind Homura and Koharu on his cane. Danzo would forever be his friend in his heart, no matter how shady he had become or how many dark choices the years of violence and bloodshed had forced his hand upon.

Unfortunately this was no longer a gathering of old friends. He could not recall how long it had been since they had had one of those. Not since the Second War, perhaps.

No, these were matters of polity.

"I believe you know why we are here, Sandaime-sama," the old lady, Koharu began, her tone calm but her voice stern. As always.

"Humor me," was the aged Hokage's gruff reply.

"The Kyuubi brat!" Danzo's stern voice inhibited both Koharu and Homura from saying another word, reducing them to mere silent supporters. "You put him on a team. With Kinoe. With the **Clones**!"

The Leaf Graced by Sunshine merely raised an eyebrow at the rage displayed by the Root that Invaded the Darkness.

"Did I not allow you to slide one of your men in on the same team as the Uchiha? Or did you think I didn't notice?" came the Hokage's simple reply, as another plume of smoke rose out of his pipe.

Danzo stilled at that.

Homura glanced at Danzo while Koharu lowered her head, as the Hokage continued, "These bones may be brittle, Danzo, but they are not senile. Not yet. In any case, I believe it to be necessary for Naruto-kun's development to progress with comrades that can bring out the best in him."

Danzo scoffed. "You and your... _philosophies_ ," he spat out the last word with venom that could rival that of Manda the Snake Summon. "Don't you realise that one of the first laws of warfare are to never put all of one's eggs in one basket? Suppose, Hiruzen, we, hypothetically, lose Shodaime-sama and Nidaime-sama's copies along with the Kyuubi in a single mission. Then? Konoha would be crippled of the greatest of its trump cards - in one fell swoop. You _must_ hand them over to me, especially the Kyuubi and Nidaime-sama's Clone; and _I_ will decide how best to weaponize them to serve the Leaf from beneath the shadows."

The Hokage sighed, fighting the migraine that was threatening to overtake him. Friend or not, he had given up on Danzo years ago. The old warhawk would never come around.

"Lone trees do not a forest make, Danzo - that was one of the first lessons I learned from Tobirama-sensei and Hashirama-sensei, and that is the essence of the Will of Fire. And never forget one fact: I am _**Hokage**_ ," and at that, the Elder Monkey flared a surge of killing intent and chakra, one that visibly perturbed Danzo, and practically choked both Homura and Koharu and practically every ANBU concealed in the shadows of the office.

The Monkey of the White Fire released the intent and concealed his chakra, allowing those in the room to heave in their held breaths before they asphyxiated. "Team Eleven is an experiment, and yet, per my orders, an irrevocable decision. They will be Konoha's Trump Card as a team of ethical humans, and not as weaponised individuals. The next Sannin, even. They will be the Forest of Trees that that would bring forth the fruit of this generation and the seed of the next. Even as we," he gestured at all the Elders in the room, "once, long ago, were trees in that Forest, if only you could remember the man you once were... Know your place, Danzo, and do not forego protocol in my presence again."

Danzo clenched his teeth in a scowl, the bandaged man's hand tightening around his cane before he forced himself to bow to the Hokage per protocol, before exiting the room, his two elder companions following behind after a moment's delay.

 _'Soon, Hiruzen. Soon... my time will come.'_

 _'Soon,'_ the Hokage thought, as he watched them retreat and another plume of smoke arose from his pipe. The tidings brought by the Toad and the Crow, and the anger radiating off the Warhawk exiting his room, all incubating in the Monkey's head, _'soon, the world will return to war. They **must** be prepared.'_

Hiruzen turned his seat around, to look at the portraits of the previous Hokage behind him. Determined blue eyes met his own wrinkled ones. _'We expect great things from your son, Minato-kun, Kushina-chan.'_

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato  
** **Training Ground 11**

"You can use origami as a weapon? That is so neat, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered as he saw Konan launch ten paper shuriken from the small brown bag located at the anterior aspect of her waist.

Each one hit the central circle in the target post spot on.

The sun-kissed blonde had, under severe pressure from his sensei and his two team-mates, discarded his hideous orange jumpsuit. Still, orange was his favourite colour, so it hadn't left his wardrobe entirely, instead he was now dressed in black ANBU-style pants with black wrist warmers similar to Sasuke's white ones, grey ninja sandals and an orange T-shirt over which he wore a black jacket lined entirely with orange internally, the Uzumaki spiral, also orange, swirling around at the back of the jacket. The new wardrobe had been funded by Yamato-sensei himself.

The paper bluenette smiled at the blonde, before amber eyes turned to Tobirama, who was standing leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. "Your turn, Tobi-kun."

The silver-haired Senju clone opened his eyes, red eyes boring into the target post in front of them. Then, at high speeds his hands flashed through multiple signs before he exclaimed, " **Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu**!" and brought his hand to his mouth. A torrent of water escaped his mouth, shooting straight towards the target post before knocking it straight off its stands and smashing it against a nearby tree. A medium-sized pool covered the once-grass between Tobirama and the broken post.

Naruto just stared at the entire scene flabbergasted, wondering if this guy was bigger show-off than Sasuke or if he was just that talented when it came to Water ninjutsu.

Konan sweat-dropped. "You didn't have to destroy the post, Tobi-kun. It was Naruto-kun's turn next..."

Naruto blinked, before laughing sheepishly. Something told he shouldn't use his perverted henge in Konan's presence, and other than that, the only real technique he knew was Kage Bunshin.

"Oh, this was simply a demonstration of your skills to Naruto-kun," Yamato said, as he dropped down from the tree he was observing the scene from. "I don't believe you know any long range jutsu yet-it's nothing to be ashamed about!" he added quickly, as he noticed Naruto's dejected expression.

"You _only_ know the Kage Bunshin?" Tobirama raised an eyebrow at the blond, who nodded. Deciding he would help his team-mate learn some Water ninjutsu if he could, the silver-haired boy asked, "What's your nature affinity?"

"My what?" Naruto asked, dubiously.

"... Don't they teach you _anything_ at the Academy?" Tobirama questioned in return, eyebrows raised as he placed both fists at his waist.

Yamato smirked. "Academy Students are informed about chakra natures but not about affinities, Tobi-kun. It's an advanced subject hence reserved for Genin and above. Only those with clan support are taught elemental jutsu under supervision of elder clansmen, such as the Uchiha with Fire."

Tobirama scoffed. "Teh. What idiot came up with such a lousy curriculum?"

Yamato smiled innocently. "The Nidaime Hokage."

Tobirama would spend the remainder of the afternoon sulking under the shade of a nearby tree, mumbling incoherently.

While his team-mate continued his depressing rambling, Naruto channelled his chakra into a brownish piece of parchment that Yamato had given him, doing exactly as his sensei instructed. Beside him, Konan was lecturing him about chakra affinities and nature transformation, but it was not that Naruto was really paying attention to anything she was saying.

The blonde's focus was on the piece of chakra paper, which produced results so strange that even Konan stopped her lecture and began to stare at it in wonder. It split in half, and then each half crumpled into small particles of dust, as if the parchment had been electrocuted.

"How interesting..." Yamato murmured. "Naruto-kun, it seems you are extremely predisposed to Wind elemental jutsu, but you also have a decent affinity for Lightning elemental ninjutsu..." ' _Just like Kushina-sama, she too was proficient in two elements simultaneously... is this part of the Uzumaki's legendary chakra potency? What else could Naruto have inherited from his Uzumaki lineage? I should test the boy's calligraphy skills...'_ the Mokuton user added in his mind.

"Two affinities? Whoa..." Konan exclaimed.

The blond smiled, flashing Konan a foxy grin before turning to look at Yamato-sensei for further instruction. "Is it rare to have two elements?"

Yamato nodded. "Only special people, such as those with elemental bloodlines like myself, are known to commonly possess two natures simultaneously. It is extremely rare in those who do not, like you. This means you have extremely powerful chakra, and you have great potential to become a master in ninjutsu, Naruto-kun. Wind, and Lightning, hmm..."

Naruto grinned from ear to ear at that, launching a fist into the air. "See?! I'm gonna master every wind and lightning jutsu there ever was. I knew I was Hokage material, dattebayo!"

Konan glanced at Yamato-sensei. "Sensei, doesn't that mean...?"

"I know what you're thinking, Konan-chan," Yamato nodded, and Naruto stopped cheering, glancing from teacher to fellow pupil, expecting an explanation.

"We make a deadly combo, the three of us," Konan explained to the boy. "You see, apart from my Paper Ninjutsu, my elemental affinity is Earth. Tobi-kun, as you know, is naturally gifted in Water, apart from his swordsmanship skills. And you with Wind and Lightning, you're practically a walking katana... and that means, among the three of us, we have four out of five elements. We could make deadly combos; your Wind and Lightning could be combined with Tobi-kun's Water to generate hurricanes and strong electrical currents, and my Earth could be combined with Tobi-kun's Water to make muddy swamps to entrap enemies..."

"Of course, I'm going to need a little help finding the right jutsu for you to learn, Naruto-kun. I myself don't know either wind or lightning, but I'm sure I can pull some strings..." Yamato added, a hand on his chin, his thoughts going to Hatake Kakashi. He was sure the man was willing to lend a hand in unofficially tutoring his Sensei's son. He had originally wanted Naruto on his team, after all, but the Sandaime had over-ruled that decision. Still, the Copy Ninja of a Thousand Jutsu was bound to know more than a few Wind ones, and Lightning was his own personal affinity.

"Until then, however, since you're so good at Clones, and so bad at Chakra Control..." Yamato pulled out three small scrolls from his back, handing them over to the blonde, who blinked at them with cerulean orbs.

"What's this, Yamato-sensei?"

"Three techniques which I know you'll find _extremely_ useful," Yamato replied. "Learn the **Shadow Shuriken** before any; that will grant you your first long-range attack, and you can also use it to compliment Konan's **Paper Shuriken**. Then, the next technique you have to master is an extremely powerful one, but since A-Rank Clones are your speciality... the **Bunshin Daibakuha** should literally make you a limitless bomb on the battlefield. The third scroll contains another basic technique, the **Shunshin no Jutsu** , the one I used to teleport you here yesterday; it's a high-speed movement technique used by many shinobi, but not that many Genin get to learn it."

Naruto glanced at the two scrolls, his blue eyes turning into stars. If he could master Kage Bunshin, these shouldn't take too much effort at all! "Alright, I'll start-"

"You also need to improve your Chakra Control, because without that, you won't be able to utilise any future elemental ninjutsu properly. We'll start by climbing trees," his sensei continued, not listening to him.

Naruto blinked. "Huh? But-"

"Konan, demonstrate."

Konan nodded, before sprinting towards the nearest tree and... running straight up its length, on her own two feet, until she stood right-side down at the top. Naruto's jaw dropped at the sight.

"H-How...?"

"You concentrate chakra into the soles of your feet and use it to stick to the tree. Too much, and you'll blow off the bark, and too little and you won't stick to begin with," Yamato explained, before throwing Naruto a kunai. "Use this to mark your position when you climb. I expect you to have mastered these three techniques and this Chakra Control Exercise within the next forty-eight hours."

"Sure, datte- what? Just two days?" Naruto looked at his sensei like he had grown a second head. "How am I supposed to _master_ all of this in two days?"

Yamato smirked. "Didn't you know the secret of the Kage Bunshin?"

Naruto blinked, before his face soured. "What secret?" he asked, annoyed. How could he not know something about his signature jutsu? He had had to read that Forbidden Scroll, like, thrice, just to get the technique down properly.

"You know it can transmit memories from the clones once they are dispelled, right?"

"Of course."

"And how does it do that?"

Naruto blinked again. He didn't know that. "Uh..."

"Chakra, Naruto-kun," Konan input. "Your chakra divides evenly between the Shadow Clones. When a Clone dissipates, its chakra, containing memories, returns to you."

Naruto glanced at her, then at his sensei, then back at Konan, and even spared a glance at the still sulking Tobirama over there by the tree, before a light-bulb finally lit in his head.

"You mean..."

"How many Clones did you make against Mizuki?" Yamato asked, knowing the boy understood.

"... I don't remember, like few hundred? Or maybe a thousand..." Naruto's nose scrunched as he tried to recall, scratching the back of his head.

"Hmm... we'll start on the safe side. Make fifty," Yamato instructed. Naruto blinked at his sensei, before doing as he was instructed, bringing his palms together in a T-seal. " **Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!"

 _Poof_.

And the Training Grounds were now filled with a small army of Narutos, and Konan whistled in amazement.

"Ten of you, read one scroll each. Then dissipate when each of you is done, one at a time. That way, you will rehearse the memories of the information in each scroll ten times each, and it's impossible for you to not have memorised every letter once you've done that. The next ten," Yamato instructed, "will practice Taijutsu forms until the first thirty at each done reading, and then they will attempt to practically learn each jutsu; five will work on the Bunshin Daibakuha, three on the Shadow Shuriken and two on the Shunshin."

"And you ten," Yamato gestured at the last ones. "You will sat in a circle around Konan-chan and Tobi-kun - smack him out of his sulking, would you? - and you three... or twelve, whatever; will begin devising your own strategies on how you will work together to trap your opponent on the battlefield. Combos, squad tactics... remember, teamwork is a shinobi's strongest jutsu. Once Naruto's forty-eight hours are up, which is the time all three of you have to formulate these strategies, I'll test you by sparring against the three of you on the third day."

All of the Naruto clones processed what had been said, before nodding, along with Konan.

"And as for you," Yamato turned to the real Naruto. "Take that kunai, and go practice the Tree Climbing Exercise. And remember, you must get it down within the time limit, or else..." Yamato's face turned to his evil, ghoulish expression, and Naruto, blanching quickly picked up the kunai and sprinted towards the nearest tree.

Yamato glanced at his Genin. The potential that these three had, both individually and as a team, was just... astounding.

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato  
** **Hokage Office, Hokage Tower**

The dreaded bane of every Hokage's existence was paperwork, and any excuse to be free of that monstrosity was welcome. The fact that it was Yamato with his daily report on Team Eleven, was icing on the cake. Seeing the brown-haired man shunshin into his office (he was one of the select few who had express permission to do so), the aged Fire Shadow flashed through hand signs and activated the silencing seals in the room.

Danzo had eyes everywhere.*

"Yamato, at ease," the Hokage leaned back in his chair, focusing all his attention to the Jounin, who stood up straight and began his report.

"Naruto, Konan and Tobirama have already bonded, despite it being their first day of proper training together. Plus, I've begun the Shadow Clone Training Regimen you devised to expedite Naruto's progress, Hokage-sama."

The thought of his surrogate grandson getting along with his teammates elicited a smile from the Hokage's visage, before he sobered again when he recalled why precisely he was doing this. _'Naruto needs to get stronger, and quickly. He could afford to be a Dead-Last in the Academy, but now that he is officially in the shinobi program, his name will begin to spread, and he will become more vulnerable as he eventually begins to leave the village on missions... and when other villagers come here, such as during the Chuunin Exams later this year. Jiraiya's reports about Sunagakure's strange activities, and their Jinchuuriki attending this year's exam, and then Akatsuki... he is already a target. He must learn how to defend himself. The fact that he can use Shadow Clones with such prowess is, luckily, something that facilitates us.'_

Realising he had become lost in his own train of thoughts, the Hokage gestured Yamato to continue.

"There was also an... interesting discovery I made about Naruto today," Yamato said, and he could feel the Professor's gaze on him. "I believe he has inherited the Uzumaki clan's Potent Chakra abilities from his mother's side... we already knew he had huge reserves, but today he demonstrated having two natural affinities. The only ones I'm aware of who had two natural affinities simultaneously without an elemental bloodline were members of the Uzumaki clan, particularly Shodaime-sama's wife and Naruto's mother."

Hiruzen's eyebrows raised, and he placed a hand on his chin to contemplate. Naruto already took largely after his mother in personality, even if he had his father's tenacity and looks. Could he truly have inherited the Uzumaki clan's traits? Hiruzen had the boy medically scanned by the most skilled medic-nins that the ANBU Black Ops had at their disposal when he was an infant just days after the Kyuubi incident. Back then, the only Uzumaki trait he had exhibited were his vast chakra reserves. What if his Uzumaki kekkei genkai developed in him as he grew older? That was a plausibility that needed to considered.

"Yamato, I can personally testify that both Uzumaki Mito-sensei and Uzumaki Kushina-chan were some of the greatest shinobi I have ever known. Mito-sensei's skill far surpassed my own in my peak, and Kushina was actually my personal choice for Yondaime Hokage, before the Council favoured Minato because of his performance in the war against Iwa. The power of the Uzumaki is not something to be trifled with. If Naruto has inherited their Potent Chakra, then he could not only become exceptionally powerful on his own, but even learn how to master the Kyuubi's chakra. The Uzumaki Potent Chakra allows for many things: longevity, healing, unparalleled Fuinjutsu and Sensor-type prowess, and not to mention the Adamantine Sealing Chains..." the Professor trailed off, his mind already computing the possibilities.

"His affinities are Wind and Lightning. Konan has Earth and Tobirama, as you are well aware, Water," Yamato continued. "Both Tobirama and Konan are Elite Genin-level, Tobirama is already bordering Chuunin. I can already formulate at least twenty different combination strategies they can use effectively in battle, once we bring Naruto to equal proficiency as them... which, with the Shadow Clone Training Method you devised, should not take more than a month."

"I have a feeling, Yamato, about your team," Hiruzen looked at at Yamato in the eyes. The aura and command the aged monkey emanated was so powerful, that Yamato was forced to look down, even though he knew the Hokage was not intending anything against him. "Their combination tactics could already surpass those of the Ino-Shika-Cho, given enough work, and once Naruto is properly trained, their combat prowess could exceed that of Team Kakashi. And, should Naruto exhibit the Mind's Eye of the Uzumaki, then that would make all three of them Sensor-types and their tracking and infiltration skills could far surpass that of Team Kurenai. This is exactly what I had intended by putting them together. The Elite Three-Man Squad," once again, the Hokage brought his pipe to his mouth and blew out a smoke plume as thoughts ran across his elderly cerebrum.

"One month, Yamato," the Sandaime said, and Yamato nodded. "In one month, I want a team of Elite Genin on my hands. I will hold off missions from your team til then, but if we should succeed and Naruto-kun progresses favourably, I will test your team be directly assigning C-Ranks and above."

Yamato nodded, "Forgive me for asking, but I recall you used a special name for this combo, Sandaime-sama?"

"Konoha's Gold-Silver-Sapphire Combo," the Hokage replied, with a smile gracing his elderly features.

* * *

 ***Who caught the reference?**  
 **Read and review, but I must make a special request, please do not use curse or foul words in your reviews as this is a K-rated story.**


	3. The Bell Test

**Thanks to all the good people who reviewed for their favourable response. A detailed response to one guest review is given at the end of this chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3  
The Bell Test**

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato  
** **Later that night**

"Ugh!" the sun-kissed blonde fell onto the grass in a loud _thud_ , and Konan winced as she saw him squirm in pain. The Sun had set on the Leaf village several hours prior, and she could hear the chirping crickets and hooing owls in the plains and trees around them. Naruto's clones had long since dispelled, some having completed their assigned tasks successfully, and some having failed to do so. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he had not succeeded in accomplishing every task he was assigned that was edging the boy on to torture himself into at least finishing the Tree Climbing Exercise.

But it was hard. It was like squeezing an elephant through a mouse hole. He just had too much chakra.

The Paper Bluenette's amber eyes glistened as she stared at the ninja in front of him. She had, in her entire thirteen years, never seen anyone so determined, so inconsiderate of his odds. It was irritating to the girl. Konan was not a medic-nin but she was an avid reader. She felt that she had enough common sense, and had read enough Field First Aid scrolls to know that Naruto was pushing himself way past his body's limits.

Vast Kyuubi reserves or not.

"Naruto," she dropped the suffix she normally used, addressing him sternly. For, like, the sixth time. Dust clouded around her foot as she stomped it on the ground by Naruto's head for emphasis. "Stop it. We'll try again tomorrow, but you need to _rest_."

Konan had not the luxury of parents considering her and Tobirama's artificial origins - not that she hadn't spent restless nights longing for the love of one. Her first origami model, which she still possessed, had been of a family of four: two adults, parents to both her and Tobirama, two kids. He was included in her family because he was practically her brother, being both born and raised together, not to mention she was aware the two of them had actually been breastfed as babies by the same foster mother, the lady who had been placed in-charge of them at the orphanage by the Sandaime. She had raised them til they were nine, after which they had begun to live on their own.

So while she had never had parents, she had always been a sister, as long as she could remember.

But this was different. Naruto was not her brother, he had been a stranger til two days ago. Besides, Tobirama was always good at everything he did. He was calm, and mature for his age, despite his tendency to mistrust adults. He always seemed to knew how much effort to make, and when giving up was in his own best interests. Tobi-kun was a prodigy.

Naruto was a... a dunce.

A dunce who was going to go into chakra exhaustion shock if he kept this up.

"No, not... yet," Naruto pushed himself off the ground by his elbows, panting as he stood up straight. "I've... gotta master this, in two... days..."

Konan's eyes narrowed. She was angry, and her voice raised in volume as she reprimanded the blonde, but it was still below screeching level. "Naruto! You've been at this for more than ten hours now! Even a Jounin wuold've exhausted themselves by now, and look at the bright side: you're already almost halfway up the tree," she pointed at his highest kunai cutting. "You have to eat and rest! I _told_ you, chakra control requires focusing your spiritual and physical energies in perfect balance, and if you're both upset _and_ exhausted neither will work!"

Naruto, apparently, had other plans in mind. "You shouldn't have stayed so long. Tobirama already went home... you should go too, Konan-chan. Don't worry, I remember your advice..." was all he said, as he picked up his kunai and began to limp towards the tree again. He made a hand seal to focus his chakra onto his feet again.

" _Naru-_!" Konan did shout this time, but she stopped mid-word when the boy suddenly fell forward, right on top of her. She held her ground, before catching his shoulders in her hands and pushing him upright. There was a red tinge on her cheeks because of the way he had just fallen onto her, but Konan was not the kind of girl so openly display her emotions when they were of no benefit.

So she ignored the heat rising to her cheeks, and the strange sensation in her stomach. She did not have time to pay attention to herself right now. Naruto needed her help, and frankly, she was expecting this to happen _hours_ ago.

Chakra exhaustion.

"I... can't move," Naruto said, through half-lidded eyes, as Konan moved underneath him before hoisting his left arm over her shoulders, her right hand sliding under his armpit and holding him up. She then began to walk him away from the tree.

"Wait... I can't... Hokage don't..."

"Even Hokage don't have infinite chakra, Naruto-kun," Konan's voice was stern, as she dragged him away from the training ground. "You divided your chakra into fifty parts, and then trained from 8 in the morning til... I don't even know what time of night it is. You need to eat, and then sleep. You're nearly halfway up the tree. We can finish it tomorrow, you still have time. I promise you I _will_ hit you if you don't guide me to your apartment _right now_ ," her amber eyes, half covered by eyelids adorned with light purple eye shadow, showed him the single coldest glare he had ever seen.

At that, even Naruto wilted. "Okay...! Man, you can be really... scary..." he yawned, "... Konan-chan... that way," he pointed in to his left, as soon as they exited the Training Ground's gates.

Something stirred inside Naruto, as the reality of his current situation dawned on him. He was exhausted, unable to move even, and Konan was helping him go home. She had even stayed all evening with him, and even after Tobirama had exhausted himself and gone home, she had stayed for hours watching over him. She probably hadn't eaten anything herself.

Honestly, if there was one thing Naruto hated more than being unable to accomplish a goal he had set his mind to, it was being a source of trouble for his precious people.

Was that was what Konan was, now? He felt something strange swell up in his heart. No one had cared _this_ much about him, ever... except Iruka-sensei, of course. But Konan had stayed with him, and helped him, even if she had gone hungry all day.

Konan always seemed sweet and intelligent, but she was also reserved, keeping a check on her emotions. Did she really do all of that out of kindness? Was Konan really so kindhearted a person?

"You're... really amazing, Konan-chan..." his voice was weak, barely above a whisper, but Konan heard it, and again her face reddened - more severely this time. Luckily, the darkness of the night concealed her tomato-esque countenance.

She felt her stomach twist and turn, and fatigue began to overtake her as they walked slowly beneath the Konohan shadows. She had trained all day, too, although not as much as Naruto - that was probably impossible. And she hadn't eaten herself. She too was beginning to suffer from chakra exhaustion.

Why? Why had she gone to such lengths to mother over someone like Naruto, who she didn't even know existed three days ago?

Because... he may be annoying at times but it was something she realised that she enjoyed. His energetic loudness was a great counterbalance to her gentle quietness. Tobirama didn't talk this much. _No one_ she knew talked this much, and she didn't know many other people. Listening to Naruto's lively declarations, his rants and tantrums were actually an ironic relief from the quiet and lonely world she had lived in for years.

And then, he _was_ inspiring. Even if she did not want to admit it, there was something about him that was just so confidently reassuring. Like he could take on the world and come out on top. Her dream, was just that: a dream. She wanted to see a peaceful world, and that was an illusion. It was not possible for the shinobi world to be peaceful, after all... but Naruto made her believe, that if she tried as much as him, maybe she could even accomplish that unobtainable goal and bring peace to the world.

It felt if she could fulfill her dream... if Naruto and Tobirama stood by her side.

"Ugh..." Konan gasped, suddenly, as her legs wobbled, and she almost dropped Naruto. "Oh no, I'm... weak too now," she mumbled.

"Seriously, what kind of idiots are you two to train so late into the night?" the familiar but unexpected voice of her foster brother startled her. She stared into the moonlit darkness, as he fazed into view in front of her with a Shunshin holding two boxes, one in each hand.

"Sit," Tobirama ordered. He had utilised his Sensor abilities to track them here, halfway between the Training Ground and what he assumed to be Naruto's apartment complex. Tobirama sucked at cooking - that was Konan's job, after all. With Konan not there, he had had to cook for not just himself, but three people, and needless to say it had taken him the past four hours of browsing through Konan's recipe notes and putting out kitchen fires, just to get the food done right.

Thus, Konan gently lowered Naruto onto the street, leaning his back against a wooden fence, before plopping down cross-legged beside him. "You brought food?" the bluenette asked the platinum blonde mini-Nidaime.

He nodded, as he lowered the bentō boxes into his two team-mates' hands. He then plopped down onto the ground cross-legged, facing the two of them, the three forming a triangle of gold, silver and sapphire heads under the white glow of the Moon.

"I've eaten, so go ahead," Tobi said.

Konan opened the bentō box along with Naruto. She grabbed some of the rice and plopped them into her mouth, gagging immediately. "UGH! **Tobi**! This is disgusting!" she shouted at him with a full mouth, before she swallowed it unappreciatively.

Tobirama sweat-dropped. "Stop being picky and eat. It's your fault anyways, you're the one who's in-charge of the kitchen."

Naruto, on the other hand, probably did not even notice the taste with how exhausted and in need of energy he was. He just gobbled it all right up, all manners flushed down the toilet. Seeing him, Konan simply shook her head, consciously inhibited all gag reflexes, and consumed Tobirama's tasteless cuisine. He smirked at the sight.

"By the way..." Tobirama mumbled as they ate, thrusting his hands in his pockets. He could not believe he had to actually tell Konan this, but it was better telling her himself now than her finding out unexpectedly when she got home. "I, uh... the kitchen. It's a mess. I... had to put out a couple... fires. Suiton jutsu and whatnot."

Konan smacked her forehead, though it came out more as a _thud_ as her palm struck her metallic Leaf forehead protector.

"You two... ugh."

* * *

 **Naruto's Apartment  
** **Day Two (next morning)**

The rays of sunlight peeked in through the windows of Naruto's small living quarters, causing the blonde's cerulean blue orbs to blink open in response to the light. Groggily awakening, he sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, suppressing a yawn.

He blinked again. "How did I get here?"

Then it all came back to him, the events of last night. After they had finished their meal, Naruto had been active enough to walk, and both Tobirama and Konan and escorted him here before Shunshining away to their home. Naruto's face reddened as he remembered, "Aww, man! I really put Konan-chan and Tobirama through a lot of trouble..."

Now that his mind was thinking clearly, and his body was rested and nourished, he pondered over all of last night's events. Even though he couldn't move, and the taste of Tobirama's cooking was extremely repulsive, he felt joy and gratefulness surge in his heart when he remembered every weird moment the three of them had shared together in the past two days, especially last night. An unusual smile graced the boy's whiskered visage; unlike his typical grins, it was a smile of contentment and serenity.

The Jinchuuriki had been deprived of such care and love for the most of his life. When he was younger, he did not know why people either avoided him or treated him with scorn. He had been deprived of such kindness for so long that he could vividly recall each moment in his life where he had actually experienced it. Old Man Teuchi and Ayame-neechan, the Old Man Hokage and Iruka-sensei. Some immediately, and some eventually, but they had all come around and seen him for who he was.

' _Demon!'_

 _'Freak!'_

 _'Don't go near him, he's a bad boy!'_

All his life, had wanted to be acknowledged. To be treated as a child, a normal human being like the rest of them. To know what a mother's kiss or a father's gentle hand felt like. Yet, far from receiving any of that, he had even been deprived of his very identity. He remembered how it used to burn him from the inside out whenever he used to question, "Why?!" Why him? What had _he_ done wrong?

The first real bond he had, whether the one on the other end of that bond ever acknowledged it or not, was with Uchiha Sasuke. The blonde closed his eyes as he remembered the look on Sasuke's face on the day of the Uchiha Massacre. The look of one who had been rejected by the world, the pain of loss, the loneliness... Naruto had seen his reflection on Sasuke's face, then.

But Sasuke... he was always good at everything he did, and Naruto knew, despite his bold claims, that he was no match for Sasuke. He never had been. No matter how many times he had failed, he still tried to compete with Sasuke, turning him into his rival, because he knew that no one in the Academy other than Sasuke could understand exactly how Naruto felt. He had just wished Sasuke would acknowledge him as an equal, and to that end he had left no stone unturned in his training. But he just hadn't been good enough to compete with Sasuke back then.

Sasuke, despite his efforts, had always kept his distance from Naruto, but Iruka-sensei was the one who had truly been there to fill the void in Naruto's heart. In the place of a father, an older brother. He was the one who had acknowledged him, despite knowing that the Fox inside him had killed Iruka's parents. Iruka had understood Naruto's pain because his pain was similar, but Iruka had looked beyond his pain and recognised Naruto for who he was.

 _'He isn't the monster fox. He is a member of Konohagakure. He's_ _ **Uzumaki Naruto**_ _!'_

And now, for the first time, he actually had people he could call... friends. Real **friends**. Not just classmates or colleagues or peers or teammates. People who were actually prepared to sacrifice something of their own, for _his_ sake. For the sake of one who no one had even wanted to talk to, or to sell their stuff to, for most of his life.

"Konan... Tobirama..." Naruto wiped away the wetness in his eyes - he would not cry, he had stopped that years ago. An extremely wide grin adorned his features as he jumped out of bed. He was a Genin now, and he already had increased in the number of precious people he had. Even Yamato-sensei had been so kind to him, despite the fact that he was a total slave driver. That could only mean that he was that much closer to his dream: so by the time he climbed up the ladder to Hokage, the whole village would acknowledge him! He'd show them all that he was no Nine-Tailed monster!

Quickly finishing his morning breakfast, which of course consisted of ramen noodles, Naruto dressed into his black-and-orange ninja outfit, grabbed Gama-chan - noticing, with an annoyed tick, that he was empty again - and leapt out of the window of his apartment, roof running to Training Ground 11.

He would make Yamato-sensei and Iruka-sensei proud.

He would become someone of worth along side Konan and Tobirama.

And he _would_ surpass Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato  
** **Day Three, Training Ground 11**

Yamato stood at one end in the middle of the clearing in the Training Ground. His triad of cute little Genin stood at the other end, their hair dancing in the cool breeze. Discarded tree leaves encircled all of them, buoyant in the Konohan winds.

"Your task for today," the brown-haired man said, showing the three Genin one bell held up by a lone thread, which he promptly proceeded to clip to his waist, "is to get this from me. Should you be unable to do so," a dark looked crossed Yamato's features. "Then I must submit an application to Hokage-sama saying that Team Eleven is a failed project. I will be reassigned to the ANBU Black Ops, and you three will be dropped from the Shinobi Program altogether."

Yamato's words hit the three like a bullet in the chest, and they all glanced at each other in turns.

"You can't do that!" Tobirama shouted at Yamato, turning his head back towards him. "... How could you possibly do that?"

"The Nidaime Hokage's third amendment to the Konohan constitution," Yamato began, "permits an Instructor or Captain to request the cancellation of his subordinates' shinobi licenses, with permission of the Hokage and approval of the Shinobi Council."

Tobirama paled. He could not tell what was worse: the fact that they were now at risk of losing the opportunity to fulfill their dreams, or that _he_ was the one who was responsible for making it all legal. Well, not _he_ , per se, but the original Tobirama.

 _'Note to self,'_ Tobirama thought. _'No matter how skilled I become, I must never assume an administrative post. Next thing you know, they'll tell me the Nidaime Hokage caused the Uchiha Massacre,'_ he shook his head to clear his train of thoughts, in an attempt to focus on the task at hand. Still, the thought that they could lose their chance at becoming shinobi, after all the effort he had put into becoming as strong as he had become, not to mention the internal tranquility he felt whenever he utilised his Water ninjutsu in combat - to be at risk of losing all of that, over a bell... it was unnerving, to say the leas-

" **NO WAY**!" Naruto's shout startled Tobirama out of his thoughts, and both Yamato-sensei and his two team-mates turned his attention to him.

Naruto pulled out a kunai, holding it in a reverse grip in his hand as he scowled at his sensei like a predatory fox. "I don't care if it's a BELL or a BIJUU! _**Nothing**_ is standing in the way of _me_ becoming Hokage! I don't care if I have to kick your butt to get that bell, Yamato-sensei!" Naruto yelled the last sentence while pointing a finger from his free hand at his sensei, before breaking forward in a sprint straight towards the Wood user.

"Naruto-kun, wait!" Konan shouted, but the enraged blonde didn't even listen, charging headfirst towards Yamato.

Said Wood user merely raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I task you three to come up with battle strategies during the past two days? And you still charge head first at me like a dunce? Naruto, I expected far, _far_ more from you..." the disappointment was palpable in his voice.

"Oi, shut it, sensei!" the blonde shouted as he leapt into the air before throwing the kunai straight at Yamato, hands flashing through eight different seals that Yamato immediately recognised. " **Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!** "

 _'So he_ _ **did**_ _learn that technique?'_ Yamato thought as he pushed himself back at high speed, knowing he had only managed to back away in time as he recognised the hand seals Naruto had made before his single kunai became over a hundred, raining down on the battlefield like a murder of enraged crows.

"Not fast enough, Naruto!" Yamato shouted back as he landed on a tree branch on the other side.

Naruto smirked.

The next sequence of events all took place within five distinct seconds.

The first second. Yamato's eyes narrowed, before he felt the surge of chakra before him. Then he realised, only a few milliseconds too late, that this branch hadn't been on this tree before, as a _poof_ of smoke under his feet alerted him to the fact that he was currently perched on top of...

... of Konan, adherent transversely to the tree. She had transformed herself into the branch.

The second second. Only, his feet were now buried _inside_ Konan, or in particular, small pieces of paper surrounding his feet had pulled him into Konan's paper-filled abdomen - a Paper Clone. Yamato's jaw dropped in shock, before he noticed the black markings on the papers that had pulled his feet into the Paper Clone's paper-filled body.

Exploding tags.

The third second. Rapid-fire hand signs later and three real branches erupted from the tree Yamato and Konan's Paper Clone were perched on, surrounding the Paper Clone in a wooden dome moments before Yamato shot himself out of the clone by a burst of chakra from the _tenketsu_ at his feet.

The forth second. _KA-BOOM!_

The Exploding Tag Paper Clone exploded, the dome barely containing the explosion and the resulting shockwave striking the mid-air Yamato sending him rocketing straight towards Naruto below.

The Naruto who was glowing an unhealthy orange glow.

The fifth second. "Oh, cra-"

" **Bunshin Daibakuha**!"

 _KA-BOOM._

From one explosion into another, Yamato immediately performed the necessary hand seals again, this time two pairs of wooden branches erupting from the ground underneath him before surrounding him in a dome of wood as the heat and energy of the second explosion overtook him.

While outwardly he remained stoic, there was something inside Yamato that was bursting with joy and pride. Even the first Naruto had been an Exploding Clone all along! And he had worked together with Konan; and he had to admit, he hadn't seen Konan combine Paper Clones with Exploding Tags before: that was truly a genius idea. So they _were_ working together and formulating new strategies, and had he not been a Jounin with years of experience as an ANBU agent and as a former member of ROOT, Yamato knew he would not have been able to see a combination like that coming. Any lesser man would be dead right now.

 _'She henge'd into a_ _ **branch**_ _, a branch he forced me onto with a hundred kunai. Oh dear, utilising their surroundings to such a degree of perfection, and then using the Paper Clone to first trap, and then explode, and then layering the first explosion with another one... that was truly amazing. He actually caught me in the second explosion, although I managed to survive in the impenetrable Wood Dome,'_ Yamato thought, before he made the necessary hand seals and began performing the Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique. He intended to escape the Dome by going underground with them noticing, but to his shock, he could not amalgamate his chakra into the Earth.

Not a second later he realised it was because the ground underneath him was... muddy.

"Tobirama!" Yamato realised. The Nidaime's Clone must have sodded the Earth using his Suiton. Yamato hadn't noticed immediately because of the heat from the explosion having momentarily dried the land when he had landed, but Tobirama had quickly refilled it with Water manifested from his Suiton chakra, turning it into swampy mud again in an entire circle around his feet. Even if he escaped into the Earth, he would be trapped by the mud - the Double Suicide Decapitation required solid land for underground travel.

 _'So he's a part of this combo too. How brilliant,'_ Yamato thought, realising he was now trapped in his own dome. Naturally, the only way out was up, but he already knew what he would find on the other side. Concentrating on the T-seal, Yamato caused the roof part of the wooden dome to recede, to be greeted by the sight he was suspecting.

Five Narutos stood immediately adjacent to the open Dome, surrounding it from all five different directions as they stood facing Yamato.

One spoke. "We're all Exploding Clones. Don't try anything, Sensei. So much as a flinch from you and we're set to blow you to smithereens, _dattebayo_!"

Now, there were multiple methods Yamato knew he could use to escape Naruto's Exploding Clones. But, behind him, Yamato could see Konan ready with multiple Paper Shurikens levitating in the air around her head, ready to strike with a single hand sign from her. While he could destroy her Paper Shuriken using Suiton, no doubt at least some of those had Exploding Tags in them. Turning his head directly ahead, Yamato saw Tobirama, hands already stalled at the penultimate seal of what he could safely assume was a poweful Suiton jutsu. One movement from Yamato and, even if he somehow managed to escape the Exploding Naruto Clones, one of his two students would still get him.

They weren't strong enough to harm him yet. But they could get real close.

Of course, Yamato could have easily escaped the entire situation by peforming a signless Kawarimi. But he was a Jounin who had trained in signless jutsu; his real target was not winning this spar against them, it was to analyze the skills and the combination the three had demonstrated as a team. He did not expect them to take down a Jounin yet - it was simply a test and needless to say, they had far exceeded his expectations. He was sure most Chuunin-level shinobi would not have been able to survive even one of these tactics, let alone all five layers of explosions and traps.

So, Yamato did the only thing that was called for. He signalled Tobirama with his eyes, who nodded, before standing up straight and releasing the chakra he had amassed for his high level Water ninjutsu.

"It's over, Naruto!" he called to the blondes, all five of whom nodded before they _poof_ ed out of existence.

Yamato smiled, and nodded, as the real Naruto dropped out of a branch behind Konan and all three Genin walked towards their sensei. Said Sensei unclipped the bell from his waist and threw it at Konan, who caught it in her right hand.

"That was brilliant, all of three of you," Yamato congratulated. "I was honestly disappointed when Naruto charged in head-first like that, but I didn't pay enough mind to it because I was subconsciously already expecting him to do that, knowing his personality. You used my own presumptions against me, which is astounding. Then your team tactics were truly amazing, especially considering this is the first time all three of you have worked together like that, and you had made obvious attempts to anticipate every possible move your opponent could make. I'm impressed at your ability to so ruthlessly immobilize your foe, and so you deserve that bell," Yamato then placed his hands on Tobirama and Naruto's respective mops of spikey hair, the boys grumbling at the strange show of affection and Konan giggling.

"Formation Gold-Silver-Sapphire," he dubbed them, and all three Genin glanced up at their Sensei in confusion.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, whenever we're on missions from now on," Yamato began explaining, as he let the boys' hair go,"we will often use codenames between ourselves. It has various purposes, but I will be 'Wood'. You will be 'Gold', because of your blonde hair. 'Silver' is Tobirama because of his hair colour, and 'Sapphire' is Konan because of her blue hair. So, I call this combo of yours Formation Gold-Silver-Sapphire."

"One of many Formations Gold-Silver-Sapphire, Yamato-sensei," Tobirama smirked. "These are just one of many strategies I thought up."

" _We_ thought up," Konan elbowed Tobirama in the ribs.

"Hey, I did most of the thinking," Tobirama insisted.

"Putting Exploding Tags in Konan's papers were _my_ idea!" Naruto interjected, angrily. It was true, the idea had come to him as a lit lightbulb yesterday after seeing his first Daibakuha Clone explode and hearing Tobirama compare the explosion radius of the Clone to that of a regular Exploding Tag.

"Alright, alright, guys, settle down. I guess we can say that Team Yamato, or Team Eleven, is now a functioning reality," Yamato smiled. "This is just the beginning, though, but its a special occasion. It's not a time to be arguing. We're going to celebrate tonight, my treat."

"Awesome, Yamato-sensei! Let's go to Ichiraku right now, dattebayo!"

Tobirama groaned. "Not ramen again!"

* * *

 **A guest, Alkaline, posted a long review: Thank you for liking the story, and thank you for your constructive criticism. I'll take your points into consideration, but here's my perspective on what you said:**

 **1\. Actually, the whole Leaf graced by sunshine thing was what Danzo referred to his relationship with Hiruzen as moments before he died. On a second read, it does look a like I pushed that one over the edge, though. I admit my fault there.**

 **2\. Yes, it is Karin's technique. I know what it's called, Hiruzen was simply referring to it as 'Mind's Eye' and that Uzumaki clansmen possess it. A vast portion of the world banded together to destroy the Uzumaki and level their entire village because they feared the power of the Uzumaki's Fuinjutsu. Multiple villages didn't band together to try that with the Uchiha, the Hyuuga or even the Senju. I'm just not inclined to give them random, scattered abilities like they have in canon (Naruto having healing and reserves, Kushina's chains, Karin's senses) - I consider every special ability any Uzumaki has ever had to be derived from the Uzumaki bloodline. I named it 'Potent Chakra', because of Kushina's saying, "I had a very special kind of chakra". Sealing Chains, Mind's Eye, etc. will just be different 'jutsu' derived from the bloodline that Naruto will have to learn how to use as he grows.**

 **3\. Kushina is one of my two favourite females in Naruto (the other being Konan), and I consider her to be the better parent, so to each their own. I know she was never (stated to be) a candidate for Hokage (I said Hiruzen considered her - meaning after Jiraiya declined. I did not say that she was an officially discussed candidate on any forum like Orochimaru and Minato were - and Hiruzen's first choice was Jiraiya, not Orochimaru, because he was already aware of Orochimaru's dark tendencies by then, if my memory serves right). This is a fanfic, and I'm free to make changes or introduce new ideas. In any case, she restrained the Kyuubi with a single jutsu, following a draining childbirth, an assault by Obito and having to bear the Kyuubi getting ripped out of her, and she continued to maintain that jutsu even after being impaled through the gut by Kyuubi's claw. The entire village couldn't restrain the Kyuubi like that including both present Hokages. The only thing Minato really did, other than land a Rasengan on Tobi, was teleport a few Bijuudamas away from the village before sealing the Kyuubi (and it was stated that Minato learned Fuinjutsu from Kushina's mother). So if Kushina, after that, is not Kage-level for you, I must simply disagree. As for level heads: when was that ever a requirement in the Narutoverse? Have you ever seen Tsunade, or the Fourth Raikage on a bad day?**

 **4\. Again, this is a fanfic - MY fanfic - and I'm free to make small (or big) changes as I see fit. Kushina had both Wind and Water in canon, and while I'm aware that multiple elements can be trained, it occured to me that Senju-Uzumaki are known for their vastly powerful (Tsunade, Kushina, Naruto) and often multi-elemental (Hashirama, Tobirama, Boruto) chakra so I thought - why not relate it to their bloodline? I'm sure it makes sense in some weird fanfictional way.**

 **That's all folks! Review please.**


	4. Growth

**Thanks to all the good people who reviewed for their favourable response. Responses to two reviews are given at the end of this chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4  
Growth  
**

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato**  
 **Yakiniku Q**

Four of Konoha's elite shinobi sat around the table, the delicious aroma of beef barbecue permeating the air around them as they exchanged fresh lime drinks.

"My brats sure need some work," the voice of a beautiful lady, with unusually-coloured, piercing red eyes, broke through the jolly masculine laughter, "but I can already tell they have great potential."

"This is your first time handling a Genin Squad, am I right, Kurenai?" a cycloptic shinobi with gravity-defying, spiky silver hair and a black mask that hid everything except a lone eye, asked the lady in his typical laid-back tone.

"Kurenai and Yamato both," a bearded Jounin with equally spiky black hair, and an uncanny resemblance to the Sandaime Hokage, commented from Kurenai's side before she could answer. "It _is_ strange though, that you both passed your first ever teams. This was Kakashi's seventh team, and my fourth, and they're both the first ones we've passed..."

Kurenai looked at Kakashi at that comment from the bearded man, Kakashi staring back lazily, before Kurenai gave the man beside her a glance. "Are you trying to imply that we were naive in our judgement, or that we went easy on our Genin when we passed them?"

"Well," Asuma's glance went to the brown-haired Jounin sitting next to Kakashi; Yamato had been the quietest of the four, absentmindedly shaking his glass of fresh lime. "Yamato passed the Uzumaki kid, the dead last who couldn't even pass the Academy properly. We've all discussed how excessively lenient the Academy syllabus is in the past, and if he couldn't even clear that..." Asuma quietened at a look from Yamato.

"Asuma-senpai," the Mokuton user said, sitting upright. "With all due respect, I suggest you not disparage my Genin and I request you to have more faith in me. Naruto is far from the dead last the records make him out to be," there was even a trace of a smile on Yamato's normally passive face. "In fact, he's the one who has improved the most over the past two weeks."

Kakashi tilted his head towards Yamato at that, whereas Asuma raised an eyebrow. It was Kurenai who spoke, however.

"A dramatic improvement in just two weeks," she said softly, eyes squinting. "I find that hard to believe, Yamato-san."

Yamato sighed. "Well, I suppose there's nothing I can do to convince you. At least not until the Chunin Exams come by later this year."

Asuma looked at Yamato, shocked. "This year?! You intend to make your Rookie Genin participate in the Chunin Exams only six months into their Genin career? Now I really think you're pushing it, Yamato. Even Gai didn't allow his team to participate in last year's exams when they were Rookies..."

"Actually," Kakashi finally spoke up, as all eyes turned to him. "I was already planning on having Team 7 ready by this year's Chunin Exams as well."

Asuma and Kurenai simply stared at the two of them like they had each grown a second head, but Kakashi turned towards Yamato. "I heard Naruto and Sasuke were rivals back in the Academy. I'd love to see how they fare against one another as Genin in an actual Exam setting, wouldn't you say, Yamato?"

Yamato smirked, nodding, before a thoughtful look crossed his features and he glanced back at Kakashi.

"Yamato-san, Kakashi-san," Kurenai interrupted Yamato before he could speak, and they both turned to her. She paused, before speaking again. "Now, I have the Hyuga, Inuzuka and Aburame Heirs in my team, and they all hold remarkable potential both as future Clan Heads and as Shinobi. But even I haven't been confident about making them appear in this year's Chunin Exams... what makes _you_ so certain your teams are ready?"

"We're not saying they're ready," Kakashi answered coolly. "My kunoichi certainly needs a lot of work. But Sasuke and Sai are remarkably skilled for their age, I'd say they're already both elite Genin. Six months of training, a few C-Ranks and a couple B-Ranks - proper exposure to the shinobi world, and all its dangers and triumphs - should prepare them sufficiently. That's how I see it."

Yamato paused, thinking again before answering as Kurenai and Asuma's heads turned to him. He knew he needed to modulate how much he disclosed; secrecy was a shinobi's greatest weapon, even amongst peers and fellow Leaf shinobi. Besides, the only ones, besides him and the Hokage, who were aware of the SS-Rank secret that was the Clone heritage of Tobirama and Konan were Kakashi himself - who had been with the Yondaime twelve years ago as _DOG_ the ANBU Operative when they had found Orochimaru's lair in the first place - and Nara Shikaku, the Jounin Commander. Yamato also considered that the three Village Elders were made aware of the fact; Koharu and Homura were the Hokage's Advisors, so they would know, and Lord Danzo always knew anyways.

"Tobirama and Konan are both Elite Genin," Yamato answered curtly, causing a few raised eyebrows in the room. "They are both prodigies, much like Gai-senpai's Hyuga Neji," it was half the truth, but it would work. "As for Naruto, he's a different kind of prodigy."

At this, even Kakashi gave Yamato an interested stare, whereas Asuma spoke. "The Dead Last? A prodigy? Are you trying to say he concealed his skills during the Academy or something?"

Yamato shook his head. "No. Naruto is a tactile learner. And he is a prodigy at that."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "Tactile prodigy?"

"What Yamato means is, Naruto is remarkably good at learning through work, practice and continual repetition... kinaesthetic learners may not be good at understanding or memorising theory, but they can memorise the _feeling_ of what they are learning. Doers, instead of readers. Am I right, Yamato?" Kakashi input, before deferring to the brown-haired Jounin.

The Wood user smiled. "Precisely. That, and Naruto's personality - namely, his never-give-up-til-you've-done-it attitude, and his ability to use his talent in kinaesthetic learning by doing something a dozen times through a dozen Shadow Clones in a short amount of time... all make him a prodigy in my eyes. Not the same kind as Neji or Sasuke, who are naturally or intellectually gifted," Yamato paused, "but a prodigy of hard work."

Asuma's eyes widened. "Shadow Clones... so he's a one-man army."

Yamato grinned. "Quite literally."

Later on, as they all exited the restaurant, Yamato approached Kakashi once he was at a distance from the other two. "Senpai," the Wood User began, and the Copy Ninja turned to face him, the two beginning to walk down the street together. "I have a favour to ask."

"A favour?"

"Hai. Actually, I tested Naruto's natural affinity. Like Kushina-sama before him, he has two. Wind and Lightning."

Kakashi's lone eye widened at that revelation, and then he understood. "You want me to tutor him privately?"

Yamato nodded. "Elemental ninjutsu, is all I ask. I know you originally wanted to train him yourself, but..."

Kakashi eye-smiled at that his junior. "Yamato, he's _their_ child. It'll be my pleasure," he paused, then added. "I just have to make sure Sasuke-kun doesn't find out."

* * *

 **Training Ground 11  
** **One month later**

"Tobirama-kun, Naruto-kun," Konan nodded at each of them, as she stood between the two boys who faced each other from opposite ends of the clearing, a paper in her hand supposed to act as a makeshift flag. Yamato sat perched on a nearby tree branch, intending to observe the match from afar.

Tomorrow was the date, exactly one month after the Academy Students had officially graduated. The Hokage had ordered Yamato to bring Naruto as close to elite Genin level as was possible during this past month, using the Kage Bunshin Training Method to speed up the boy's progress.

Yamato frowned as he analysed the students under his care. Naruto had not been the only one who had progressed over the past month: that would have been unfair to the rest of his students. While Naruto was indeed the one who had trained the hardest, and improved the most over the past thirty something days, Tobirama was always the one who trained the smartest.

Yamato had observed that Tobirama too had been more motivated seeing Naruto struggle as he did. He had increased the time he spent training, and focused on mastering what he had already learnt. Yamato was confident that out of all his Genin, Tobirama was now easily Chunin-level when it came to both combat prowess and tactical genius. The platinum blonde had managed to learn over ten C-Rank Water Release Ninjutsu from Yamato himself even before they had became a three-man squad, but seeing Naruto master A-Ranks like the Multi-Kage Bunshin and the Bunshin Daibakuha had motivated him to push himself further.

So, over the past few months, Tobirama had managed to squeeze, in addition to another five C-Ranks, at least two B-Rank Water Ninjutsu out of Yamato, one of them being the extremely powerful **Water Dragon Bullet**. The Sensei had initially refused on account of the fact that Tobirama did not have as much chakra as Naruto, and such a powerful jutsu would drain him, but the boy had been insistent. Yamato had shown him the jutsu, and had been surprised when Tobirama had actually performed it about five days ago.

But, as expected, using such a powerful technique had quickly depleted his chakra reserves.

 _Flashback..._

 _"Tobi-kun," Yamato said, knowing he had the boy's attention when the panting platinum blonde glanced at him as he lay exhausted on the ground after having performed the_ _ **Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique**_ _for the first time with all forty-four hand seals. Konan and Naruto both stood crouched beside him; Naruto actually had a somewhat jealous look on his face - he didn't have anything as cool as a giant water dragon up his sleeve! - whereas Konan looked concerned._

 _"While it is well and good learning powerful techniques, I advise you not to use that in actual battle yet. You still need proper, outside-the-village combat experience, and to develop your chakra reserves... and you know well how dangerous it can be to exhaust your chakra like this," Yamato admonished, as Konan helped Tobirama onto his feet, Naruto next to him waiting to help if he should be needed._

 _"I'm aware," Tobirama muttered quietly, before glancing at the blonde._

 _Over the time they had spent together, Tobirama had become quite close to Naruto. Not that he would verbally admit it - Naruto was an idiot, through-and-through. Tobirama himself could not explain why he felt this way about the blonde - they were so different in personality, in their way of thinking and in the way they learnt things. Naruto was a dreamer, whereas Tobirama was a realist. Yet, for some strange, unexplainable reason, Tobirama felt a blossoming kinship to the boy. Like Naruto was the loudmouth, impulsive and headstrong brother that Tobirama was **supposed** to have._

 _But Naruto had struggled so hard and had come so far over the past month alone. So, despite Tobirama's fraternal feelings for the blonde, he was not about to let himself be left behind. Naruto progressing by leaps and bounds made Tobirama realise that he needed to do the same. Power and progress were necessities in the Shinobi World; he may have had a head start, but those who slowed in their progress were quickly killed, and Tobirama was determined not to become the rabbit in this race._

 _He had to match, if not surpass, Naruto's progress._

 _Naruto's face morphed into a resolute expression as he caught Tobirama staring at him. "Oi, Tobirama!" he spoke, his tone unusually commanding, and Tobirama snapped out of his reverie._

 _"Huh?"_

 _"Don't feel left behind because of me."_

 _Tobirama stared at the blonde, shocked. He hadn't expected him to realise... 'Of course,' the mini-Nidaime thought, as he closed his eyes and smirked. Naruto had not just changed in skill over the past few weeks. Being among a people - a family - who had actually acknowledged his existence had made the boy less of a loudmouth prankster, and a bit more focused. He was still hyperactive and jittery, as was expected of a boy who had so much chakra bubbling inside him, but he was still noticeably more mature and contained now than he had been when he had graduated._

 _That, and if Naruto was gifted in one thing, it was reading people. Years of wearing a false smile despite all the hurt and crap he had received from the village had made him an expert at that._

 _"I have so much chakra that I can easily waste it without worrying 'bout it," Naruto continued, blue eyes determined and compassionate as he stared at Tobirama. "You don't. So please... you're still a much better ninja than I am, and you_ _ **know**_ _how difficult it was for me to admit that just now," the whiskered boy growled. "So what if I can learn higher-ranking jutsu quicker because of my chakra and Shadow Clones? You're far more intelligent, more knowledgeable, a much better analyst and strategist, things that I can't get at all..."_

 _Both Yamato and Konan smiled at the boys, as they saw Naruto's words having an effect on Tobirama. The blonde placed a hand on the platinum blonde's shoulder as blue eyes bore into red._

 _"I_ _ **need**_ _you Tobirama, both of you," Naruto smiled at Konan, before turning his head back to Tobirama. "I need your realism, your ability to see what I can't, your sense of responsibility... as long as we're team-mates, as long as we're friends... and I'm gonna need your intelligence and advice when I steal that Hat from the Old Man too. I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage, and you're gonna be my greatest Councillor, dattebayo!"_

 _Yamato's eyes widened in shock when, at Naruto's declaration, he envisioned two shimmering figures seemingly phase into existence around Naruto and Tobirama - a tall, tan, dark-eyed man with waist-length black hair and red armour around Naruto, and around Tobirama an elder version of himself with red facial markings and blue armour. At that moment he felt he saw not Naruto and Tobirama, his two cute little Genin, but the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages, two of the mightiest legends the shinobi world had produced._

 _'Am I looking at the legends of the next generation?' Yamato thought, flabbergasted, as the strange vision left him once he saw Tobirama smirk back at Naruto and nod at him. 'They_ _ **do**_ _say that History repeats itself...'_

 _Meanwhile, Tobirama was cognizant of the rising warmth in his heart regarding Naruto. 'Is this how... Nidaime-sama used to feel about Shodaime-sama? Is this what it feels like to have a brother?'_

 _... end flashback._

Since then, he had seen Tobirama's reckless competitiveness decline to more reasonable levels, as he had merely helped Konan learn a few Water ninjutsu - which was difficult for her, Water not being her affinity - while attempting to master what he already knew. Having read that the Nidaime could perform the forty-four hand seal **Water Dragon Bullet** with only one hand seal, Tobirama had decided to try to decrease the amount of effort it took him to perform the jutsu he already knew by mastering them instead of pushing himself towards amassing more powerful techniques.

Yamato glanced at his other student, the one currently facing Tobirama.

Naruto had quickly grown on all of them over the past month; his loud and boisterous nature was something that the group had seriously needed, as all three of them before Naruto's inclusion, including Yamato, had been of the serious sort. It was frankly impossible to imagine what their lives would be like without Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead amongst their ranks now.

Naruto had not just grown on them, however. He had grown as a shinobi, as well. A **Kage Bunshin** of Kakashi had dropped by since Yamato's request to him a few weeks ago, and had begun teaching Naruto the basics of Elemental Ninjutsu. The Copy Ninja too had been surprised at how Naruto could finish a month's task in a day using thirty clones: within two weeks, Naruto had gotten the basics of **Futon** Chakra Manipulation down, including the Leaf Splitting exercise, and was now working on his other element, **Raiton** , something which Yamato knew Kakashi was more excited about teaching him.

Yamato also knew that seeing Naruto progress so well, so quickly, had made the normally laid-back Kakashi even harder on his own Genin squad, in particular the Uchiha Heir whom the White Fang's Son personally favoured because of their mutual gift: the Sharingan. Of course, Yamato was not actually sure if the Uchiha had actually awakened his kekkei genkai yet or not.

Before having gone on their C-Rank mission to the Land of Waves about four days ago, Kakashi had given Naruto his first two Wind Release jutsu scrolls, and Yamato had seen the blonde's multiple **Kage Bunshin** working diligently on the two while the original continued to work on his Taijutsu and physical conditioning with Yamato.

In any case, today was the day Naruto was going to be tested to see how far he had come. A spar against Tobirama should give an adequate assessment to where both his boys stood. Konan was no weak link in the chain, of course, and he considered her to be equal to both Tobirama and Naruto in her combat prowess, but he had chosen Tobirama for this knowing he too was itching for a full out spar with his team-mate.

"Remember, he who draws _first blood_ , wins. _Hajime_!" Konan declared, lifting the paper sheet in her hand like a flag before jumping back as both Naruto and Tobirama charged at each other in a blur.

 _Smack._

Tobirama blocked a powerful punch from Naruto using his forearm before coming in with a spinning kick towards Naruto's head, which the blonde ducked under before reverse somersaulting away from the other boy who quickly flashed through three hand seals.

" **Suiton: Mizurappa**!" a wide stream of water shot out of Tobirama's mouth as he brought his hand to it, the **Water Release: Raging Waves** ready to submerge Naruto who too was already performing the five hand seals needed for his own move.

" **Fūton: Reppūshō**!" Naruto clapped his hands together, compressed air swirling around him, as if he were the centre of a storm, to form a powerful gale that launched straight ahead, the **Wind Release: Gale Palm** meeting Tobirama's water stream head on. Drops of water rained down upon all those present as the breeze blew back their hair and clothes, the two equally ranked jutsu cancelling each other out.

 _'So he learned it...!'_ Yamato thought with a smile, seeing Naruto perform his first elemental ninjutsu.

 _'So that's the technique Kakashi-san taught Naruto...'_ Konan mused. _'If we combined that with my_ _ **Paper Shuriken**_ _, that could increase the cutting power, speed and range of the_ _ **Paper Shuriken**_ _to make a strong, perhaps B-Rank, combo..."_

The two charging blurs quickly began trading blows again, Taijutsu against Taijutsu. Since most of his elemental training had come through Shadow Clones, the real Naruto had focused on Taijutsu exclusively over the past month and needless to say he was a world apart from the Naruto who had just graduated and knew nothing but the basic Academy style.

Yamato had obtained permission from the Hokage to learn the traditional fighting style of the Senju clan. In contrast to the Uchiha's **Interceptor Fist** , the Senju clan as their rivals had developed their own style called the **Thousand Hands' Fist** , both being ancient styles that went back as far as the Senju and Uchiha clans themselves.

Whereas the **Interceptor Fist** focused on using the Uchiha eyesight to predict and intercept enemy movements before they could be completed, the **Thousand Hands' Fist** focused on using the Senju body, using their powerful chakra to augment speed and strength to various degrees to overwhelm the opponents' strikes.

It was also the parent style of Senju Tsunade, the Slug Sannin's, unique Taijutsu style. She with the aid of her tremendous chakra and legendary chakra control, had taken it to an entirely different level and thus become strong enough to shatter buildings with a single punch.

While Yamato only utilised the style to supplement his Mokuton, in a manner similar to Senju Hashirama, he was still proficient in the basic katas, and with the Hokage's permission he had taught it to all three of his students. While it was the Hokage's duty to ensure the safety of clan secrets, he had made an exception in this case for multiple reasons: as far as Tobirama was concerned, it was practically his birthright; Konan was Tobirama's foster-sister; and Naruto was an Uzumaki, and as the lineage of every Uzumaki returned to the legendary sealing master Senju Menma, that made Naruto the closest living thing to a Senju other than Tsunade and Tobirama.

Besides, Tsunade, the only Senju alive not created in a test tube, hardly cared at all anymore about the village or the secrets of her almost-extinct clan.

The Tree Climbing Exercise, as well as the exercises performed for training Elemental Ninjutsu, had increased Naruto's Chakra Control enough to allow for him to channel at least Genin-level chakra to strengthen his strikes, allowing him to go toe-to-toe with Tobirama for the time being.

"Ugh!" Tobirama cried, as he swung his fist at Naruto.

"Take this, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled as he responded with his own fist.

In a dramatic display of Taijutsu, both Tobirama and Naruto's strikes landed directly on each other's faces, and the two split apart a moment later, both landing in a crouch each with rapidly swelling cheeks on the side where the opponent fist had hit.

" **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" Naruto shouted as he made the T-seal, four Narutos poofing into existence and speeding towards Tobirama. All four of the Shadow Clones threw three shuriken stars towards Tobirama, before each of them made their own hand seals and shouted: " **Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" and thus an endless shower of shuriken began to rain down on Tobirama.

Konan's eyes narrowed. Naruto was not holding back.

But her brother wasn't either. Five hand seals and Tobirama unleashed one of his most powerful defensive jutsu, and the only B-Rank he knew other than the **Water Dragon Bullet**. " **Suiton: Suijinheki** ( **Water Release: Water Formation Wall** )!"

The water expelled from his mouth took the the shape of a huge curved wall around Tobirama, the thick torrential fluids either trapping or deflecting Naruto's shuriken bombardment. The gigantic wall of water then fell, the water gushing forth and flooding the field, dispelling two of Naruto's nearer Shadow Clones who got caught in the deluge.

Then, quicker than a normal human could blink, Tobirama rushed forwards and kneaded chakra into his mouth. " **Suiton: Ryūsuiben** ( **Water Release: Running Water Whip** )!" He then expelled water from his mouth in the form of a whip, before rapidly twisting his head to lash around at the remaining Naruto clones. Both of them got caught in the single whip strike before dispelling instantly.

However, in his effort to take out the Clones, Tobirama had failed to notice what the real Naruto had been up to. Yamato and Konan watched as the blonde suddenly appeared over a shocked Tobirama's head, a giant four-bladed _Kage Fūsha_ , or Shadow Windmill Shuriken spinning wildly in his right hand, each of the four blades surrounded in a bluish-white glow and making a loud sound reminiscent of a howling wolf.

"What the-?" Tobirama gasped.

"What is _that_?" Konan asked, having never seen Naruto use his Fūma Shuriken like that in battle before.

" **Fūton:** **Hoesharin Shuriken (Wind Release: Howling Wheel Shuriken)**!" Naruto threw the shuriken straight down towards Tobirama before flipping away mid-air.

The crimson-eyed boy barely reacted in time, managing to evade by pulling a **Shunshin** , but not before feeling the rapidly-spinning Wind chakra that coated the edge of Naruto's Windmill Shuriken barely, just _barely_ scrape across the skin on the left side of his body.

Wind chakra that left two bleeding cuts across his left arm and left cheek, as he reappeared on the other side of the field, panting.

Meanwhile, the spinning Windmill Shuriken flew on across the field cut a tree in half in a neat slice before it began to turn in the air.

Naruto landed in the middle of the, now drenched, clearing, a face-splitting foxy grin adorning his visage. The Windmill Shuriken, now bereft of any Wind chakra, finally returned to his hand like a boomerang.

"First blood, dattebayo!" Naruto declared, collapsing his Fūma Shuriken before clipping the single blade to his back.

Tobirama's eyes narrowed, as Konan came beside him with the First Aid kit and began to address his wounds. Needless to say, the silver-haired Genin was not happy. He never expected Naruto to have a trick like that up his sleeve. The Uzumaki had channelled his Wind chakra through the Windmill Shuriken, infusing it with wind chakra and increasing its range and cutting power.

Yamato, on the other hand, began remembering the time when Naruto had decided to use a Shadow Windmill Shuriken in combat.

 _Flashback, two weeks ago..._

 _As the blonde Uzumaki rested, he watched Tobirama moving in and out of his sword-fighting forms, his katana ready to strike. His blue eyes turned to his sensei, who was meditating nearby._

 _"Yamato-sensei?"_

 _"Hmm?" the man raised an eyebrow, but otherwise continued to meditate._

 _"Why does Tobirama use a katana when he's so good at Ninjutsu?"_

 _At that, Yamato opened his eyes and stared at the blonde, before glancing at the practicing Tobirama in the distance. "Well, it's partly because the Nidaime Hokage used a katana in combat, and Tobirama wishes to take after him. But it's also wise to have multiple options when in battle. One should try and become proficient in using a weapon if one reasonably can."_

 _"... I want to, sensei," Naruto's determined blue eyes met Yamato's surprised brown ones. "But I'm not really a katana person."_

 _Yamato laughed. "Well, there are a whole lot of weapons out there, Naruto. Sandaime-sama, for instance, is an expert in b_ _ō_ _jutsu, or stick-fighting. You just need to figure out which kind of weapon could suit you best."_

 _"Hmm..." Naruto closed his eyes, recalling that night in the Forbidden Forest when Mizuki-teme had attacked him and Iruka-sensei with two giant, spinning shurikens..._

 _... end flashback._

Yamato had gotten Naruto a black, collapsible Fūma Shuriken with four curved blades after that. But it came as a surprise to Yamato that the second Wind skill Kakashi had taught Naruto had not been a jutsu, but rather the ability to infuse a weapon with Wind chakra.

And Naruto had developed that into a jutsu on his own.

"Howling Wheel Shuriken, huh? I'm impressed. Well done, Naruto-kun," Yamato grinned, and Naruto blinked, before feeling a surge of pride at the praise he received from his sensei.

"How troublesome," the now bandaged - thanks to Konan - Tobirama stood up and walked over to the blonde, before raising a fist. Naruto stared at it, before grinning and bumping it.

"Looks like I surpassed you, _dattebayo_!" Naruto cheered.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, you idiot. You drew first blood. You didn't actually defeat me in combat," Tobirama deadpanned.

Naruto blew a raspberry at Tobirama in response, leading the silver-haired Genin to make an angry face. Meanwhile, Konan simply closed her eyes and smiled in contentment at her team-mates' antics.

 _'They're ready!_ ' Yamato cheered internally.

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato  
** **Hokage Tower, Mission Assignment Room**

 _'This is an unpleasant turn of events,'_ the Sandaime Hokage thought as he stared at the message scroll spread open on his desk, fingers intertwined in deep thought. It had just been brought moments prior by one of Kakashi's dog summons, and the news about an attack on their Team and client by Kiri's Demon Brothers had chilled his aged bones.

He had been hesitant on sending the Uchiha out on a mission only a month after graduation. Not because he doubted the boy's skill - he was incredibly gifted, already powerful even for a Genin despite being fresh out of the Academy. No, the Hokage had been more worried about Sasuke becoming a target of shinobi from other villages or, worse, missing-nin.

Of course, he could always order them to return, but Kakashi had decided to pursue their mission in the Land of Waves and they would probably already be in _Nami no Kuni_ by the time they got his reply message. Quite likely already under threat of attack by more of Gato's mercenary ninja.

No, it would be much more prudent to send back-up.

The question being, who to send. From the information they had available, Gato was hiring Chunin-to-Jounin-level missing-nin to do his dirty work. Sending ANBU was overkill, and most of his available Chunin were busy making the initial preparations for the upcoming Chunin Exams. The only Elite Genin Team he had at the moment was Team 9. Maitou Gai and Kakashi were team-mates, good friends and rivals - and together more than capable of handling even Jounin-level threats. The problem was, that Team 9 was already on a B-Rank mission in the Land of Grass-

Yamato appeared in his presence in a **Shunshin** , bowed in respect. "Hokage-sama, permission to speak."

"At ease, Yamato," the Hokage responded with a wave of his hand.

"They're ready, sir," Yamato smiled proudly, looking at the Sandaime in the eye, his own brown orbs sparkling. "Tobirama, Konan and Naruto. While they've all become stronger over the past month, Naruto's growth has been exponential. I'd love to pit him against Kakashi-senpai's students, or one of the other Clan Heirs, and I dare boast that Naruto can easily win against any of them now. I believe we're ready for our first mission assignment."

The Hokage could not help but smirk slightly at that. _'And just in time, too.'_ "Tell your Genin to be ready to travel as soon as possible, and ensure they have their combat gear. I know this may be surprising, and quite challenging, for a first assignment, but this is an urgent B-Rank mission: Hatake Kakashi, with Team 7, are currently in the Land of Waves and require immediate back-up."

Yamato's eyes widened at that. _'B-Rank? Kakashi-senpai...'_ A resolute expression graced his features, and he nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

"You'll find the details in this scroll," the Hokage passed the sealed, rolled parchment to Yamato, who took it and nodded.

"Go!"

The Jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The Sandaime leaned back in his seat, before lighting up his pipe and beginning to blow out plumes, feeling the weight of every single one of his eighty years. _'I feel like I'm putting your legacies to the test too soon. I just hope I'm doing the right thing, Tobirama-sensei, Minato-kun...'_

* * *

 **Responding to the guest reviewer, Alkaline again: your idea about 'Gold' is actually quite awesome, and I may end up using it. Thanks for that! To answer your question, yes, intend Naruto to inherit from his father's and Jiraiya's skill-set. Sage Mode Naruto is actually my favourite, so I can't write a story without that.**

 **Responding to Ezeakal: I do intend for Naruto to learn Fuinjutsu but not for a while. Saying anything else could be a spoiler.**

 **That's all for this chapter folks. Review please!**


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